Lampholder for compact fluorescent lamps

ABSTRACT

A lamp housing to support and power a compact dual or quad-tube fluorescent lamp. A body portion with a central cavity receives the lamp base and selectively retains same using a trapped metal clip; contacts mounted in separated cavities receive the lamp leads at a first end and at the second end the bared end of an electrical conductor inserted into a one way type clutch contact lever to apply AC power to the lampleads. The contact lever can be bifurcated to independently engage more than a single conductor. The lamphousing can be mounted to a panel using fasteners extending through apertures in mounting pads of the base, or by using flexible mounting tabs to grip the underside of a mounting panel or a combination of the flexible mounting tabs and flexible arms to permit the lampholder to be mounted on panels of different thicknesses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a combined socket and support for a fluorescentlamp and more particularly to a combined socket and mounting support forcompact fluorescent lamps.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Widely used fluorescent lamps are generally straight and have two pinsat each end for engagement with a socket. To be able to wire up bothsets of pins, conductors had to be routed along the reflector, either infront or in back of such reflector. The advent of the U-shapedfluorescent lamp simplified the wiring to some degree since both sets ofpins were at the same end of the lamp. These U-shaped lamps, althoughshorter for a given light output were more than twice as wide as anequivalent straight tube which limited its usefulness. Compactfluorescent lamps were developed which use two parallel tubes joined atone end and having at their opposite ends a single pin or lead. Thistype of lamp is called a twin tube fluorescent lamp which may beobtained from the Twin Tube Lamp Center, 24500 Solon Road, BedfordHeights, Ohio 44116. Because only one pin or lead is required at eachend of the lamp and because both pins are adjacent one another thewiring of such lamps is quite simple. However, since the lampsthemselves must be supported and positioned in, for example, a lamphold,the provision of a compact socket and support device is required.

Some prior art lamps are fitted to a screw-in base similar to a standardlight bulb base which can be screwed into a usual mogul base socket.Where the socket is supported on a panel or a reflector, an additionalsupport is required making the assembly quite large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to overcome all of the above noted shortcomings of the prior art by providing a small, simple, easily useddevice which can be mounted to a mounting panel, to a reflector orsimilar device and which provides a support for the compact fluorescentlamp with a releasable latch to hold the lamp in place and electricalcontacts to provide the AC power to the lamp to light it.

A central cavity in the base contains a snap clip which will engage thelamp base and hold it in position and combined with the base willsupport the lamp. Contact cavities are fitted adjacent the base centralcavity and contain contacts which are wired to AC power lines and whichengage the lamp pins or leads to cause the lamp to light.

The contacts have tabs that engage holes in the base walls to preventthe contacts removal after same have been installed. Two facing contactfingers engage the lamp pin placed between such fingers. At the back endof the contact are two cantilevered members bent inwardly toward thecontact fingers. The bared ends of conductors, one for each member, arepushed between the lever free ends and an adjacent portion of thecontact. The members act as one-way clutches which permit the conductorsto be inserted between the member end and the adjacent portion of thecontact but prevents it from being withdrawn. By providing multipleconductor engagement points at each contact, the contacts can bedaisy-chained or otherwise wired without additional connectors.

In a quad-tube device, two or four contacts are provided to engage thetwo or four pins, depending on the type of lamp used. Only one snap clipis required for engaging the quad-tube base.

A pair of flexible latch members depend from the base and each has anoutwardly tapered first end which ends in an undercut portion. The latchmembers deflect inwardly when pushed through a suitable aperture in amounting panel and return to their original positions when the undercutportions are adjacent the bottom surface of the panel. The flexiblelatch members may be flanked by flexible arms ending in hemisphericalprotuberances. These arms will flex to accommodate a wide range of panelthickness between the protuberances and the undercut of the latchmembers. Four apertures are provided at the base corners to receivefasteners to mount the lampholder on a panel. It is an object of thepresent invention to provide a novel lampholder for compact fluorescentlamps.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novellampholder for twin-tube compact fluorescent lamps.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novellampholder for quad-tube compact fluorescent lamps.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel lampholderfor compact fluorescent lamps which can be mounted within an aperture ina panel or atop the panel.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novellampholder for compact fluorescent lamps having a snap clip which canselectively retain a compact fluorescent lamp therein.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novellampholder for compact fluorescent lamps which employs a contact whichcan independently terminate one or more conductors.

Other objects and features of the invention will be pointed out in thefollowing description and claims and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principles of theinvention, and the best modes which are presently contemplated forcarrying them out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In the drawings in which similar elements are given similar referencecharacters:

FIG. 1 is a bottom plan view of a lighting fixture employing alampholder for compact fluorescent lamps constructed in accordance withthe concepts of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a twin tube of the type sold by Twin TubeLamp Center as identified above.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the twin tube of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the twin tube of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a quad-tube as sold by the Twin Tube LampCenter.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view, exploded, of a lampholder for compactfluorescent lamps, according to the concepts of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of a further embodiment of alampholder for compact fluorescent lamps, according to the invention.

FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view of the lampholder of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the lampholder of FIG. 6 with the snap clipand contacts removed to better appreciate the internal details of thehousing.

FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of the lampholder of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the lampholder of FIG. 7 installedupon a mounting panel.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the snap clip of the lampholder of FIG.6.

FIG. 13 is a rear perspective view of a contact of the lampholder ofFIG. 6.

FIG. 14 is a top plan view of the contact of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view, exploded, of a lampholder constructed inaccordance with the concepts of the invention to accept quad-tube lamps.

FIG. 16 is a rear elevational view of the quad-tube of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning now to FIG. 1 there is shown a lamp 20 having a reflector 22 andend walls 24 and 26. A mounting panel 28 extends across the width ofreflector 22 parallel with end walls 24 and 26. A lampholder 90 ismounted to mounting panel 28 by means of arms 260 and 270 which extendthrough an aperture (not shown) in mounting panel 28 and engage the rearsurface of mounting panel 28 about the aperture. Lamp support 30 iscoupled to end wall 26 and extends to a base or clamp (not shown).Conductors 32, 34 extend from a plug (not shown) through a strain relief36 to lampholder 90. Plugged into lampholder 90 is a twin tubefluorescent lamp 40 having two parallel tubes 42, 44 joined as at 46.Joint 46 permits the gas in the tubes 42 and 44 to intermix and allowsfor current to pass between the tube leads through the gas in tubes 42and 44.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 twin tube fluorescent lamp 40 has a base 50having a generally oval ring 52 of plastic, rubber, ceramic or otherinsulating material held in place by a metal band 47 crimped to the ring52 of base 50 at positions such as 48 shown in FIG. 4. The remainder ofbase 50 is a rectangular portion 54 upon which a pair of raised ribs 56appear on top side 58 and bottom side 60. As is best seen in FIG. 3,raised ribs 56 have an upwardly inclined leading surface 62 and adownwardly inclined trailing surface 66 joined to surface 62 at highpoint 64. The raised ribs 56 will be used, as will be described below,to engage the snap clip and retain the twin tube fluorescent lamp 40 inthe lampholder 90. Extending through ring 52 are leads or pins 68, onefor each of said tubes 42 and 44.

FIGS. 5 and 16 show a quad-tube fluorescent lamp 70 which is made up offour tubes. Tube 73 and tube 72, positioned side-by-side, areinterconnected as at 46, in the same manner as tubes 42 and 44. Tube 72aand tube 73a, below tubes 72 and 73 and not visible in the figures, aresimilarly joined as at 46 (not shown). In addition, tube 72 and tube 72aare interconnected at 49 (shown in phantom line) so that all four tubesare connected in series. Base 86, of insulating material, has agenerally rectangular band 84 held in place by a metal or plastic band84 joined to base 86. The remainder of base 86 is a rectangular portion88 upon which is placed a raised rib 80 on top side 110 and furtherraised rib 80 on the bottom side 112, both raised ribs 80 extending fora portion of the length of then respective surfaces 110, 112. The ribs80 are contoured in the same manner as ribs 56 of FIG. 3. The pins 76and 78 for tubes 72, 73, respectively, shown in solid line in FIG. 16,are stacked one atop the other and generally separated by rectangularportion 88. If four pins are required by the quad-tube fluorescent lamp70 because it does not contain an internal starter or the quad-tube lamp70 is to be used with a dimmer device four pins 76, 76a, 78 and 78a arerequired. Ribs 80 engage a snap clip (not shown) to lock quad-tubefluorescent lamp 70 in the lampholder 300 to be discussed below withreference to FIG. 15. Keying ribs 81 insure proper placement of lamp 70in lampholder 300.

Turning to FIG. 12 there is shown a snap clip 92 made of a resilientmetal such as stainless steel having a base 94 with two upstanding arms96 which together generally describe a U. Each of the upstanding arms 96is lanced to provide a tab 98 whose free end 100 will engage with thelampholder body as will be described below to prevent unwanted removalof the clip 92 from the lampholder 90. Adjacent the free ends of each ofthe arms 96, there is placed an inwardly curved section 102 having aleading section 104. Curved sections 102 expand the spacing between arms96 as they ride over trailing surfaces 66 of raised ribs 56. Curvedsections 102 each end with a trailing section 106 which engages theleading surfaces 62 of raised ribs 56 to lock the twin tube fluorescentlamp 40 to the lampholder 90, while the curved sections 102 will engagethe surfaces of rectangular portion 54 in front of the leading surfaces62 of the raised ribs 56. Withdrawing lamp 40 from lampholder 90 causesthe trailing sections 106, and then curved sections 102, to ride overleading surfaces 62 to expand the spacing between arms 96 to permit fallwithdrawal of the lamp 40.

Referring now to FIGS. 13 and 14, the details of the contact 120 are setforth. Contact 120 is made of a resilient, conductive metal such as analloy of copper and, for example, may be beryllium copper. The contact120 is made of a single blank of metal folded as a edges 124 and 122 tomake a three sided box-like connector body 126 having a base 128, a side130 perpendicular to base 128 and a top 132 perpendicular to side 130.Base 128 and top 132 each have portions of reduced width, 134 and 136,respectively, the free ends of which are formed with inwardly directedsections 138 and 140 which extend towards the longitudinal axis ofcontact 120. Sections 138 and 140 are followed by curved sections 142and 144, respectively, and terminate in outwardly directed, with respectto the longitudinal axis, sections 146, 148. When lead or pin 68 engagesthe lead-in sections 146, 148, the portions 134 and 136 separate untilthe lead or pin 68 comes to rest between curved sections 142, 144 whichmake up the pin end of contact 120.

Tab 150, formed when base 128 is cut to provide portion 136, is bent atan acute angle with respect to the plane of base 128 and acts as aspacer in the contact cavity to be discussed below and to limit possiblecompression of the contact 120. An outwardly directed tab 152 is formedat a free end of side 130. The tab 152 will engage a slot in a wall ofthe housing cavity to prevent contact 120 being removed from suchhousing.

At the second, free end, of top 132 is a tab 154 bent at an acute angleto the plane of top 132. Tab 154 is divided into two separately operabletabs 158 and 160 by slot 156. The tabs 158 and 160 are strengthened andmade more rigid by the ribs 162 and 164 formed in tabs 158 and 160,respectively. The tabs 158 and 160, which make up the conductor end,operate as one-way clutches. When the bared end of a conductor (notshown) is placed on base 128 and advanced towards, for example, tab 158,the tab 158 will pivot inwardly towards tab 150 until the baredconductor is able to pass between the free end of tab 158 and base 128.The electrical connection is established between the contact base 128and tab 158. Any attempt to pull the conductor out of the contact 120causes the tab 158 to try to rotate in a clockwise direction which jamsthe free end of tab 158 into the bared portion of the inserted conductorand both the tab 158 and conductor against base 128. This actionprevents the removal of the terminated conductor. The availability oftwo tabs 158 and 160 means that two conductors can be terminated at eachcontact 120 making daisy chains or more complex wiring possible right atthe contact 120 itself.

Turning now to FIGS. 6 to 11 the details of the housing 180 oflampholder 90 are described and shown. Housing 180 has a rectangularcentral cavity 182 having a top wall 184, a first side wall 186, asecond side wall 188 and a bottom wall 190. Short, stub walls 192 mayextend into central cavity 182 at the mid points of side walls 186 and188 dividing them respectively into side walls 186a, 186b and 188a,188b. The ends of stub walls 192 extend into the slots between the pairsof raised ribs 56 to portion 54 of lamp 40 to assist in positioning thelamp 40 in lampholder 90. The stub walls 192 also contain the snap clip92 and prevent any lateral shift along the inner surfaces of walls 186and 188. However, if desired, the stub walls 192 can be omitted as shownin the embodiment of FIG. 7. If desired, short slots 189 (as shown inFIG. 7) can be placed in the free ends of the walls 186a, 186b, 188a and188b to assist in inserting snap clips 92. The cavity 182 extendsgenerally from an open front surface 194 to a substantially closed rearsurface 196. A slot 198 is formed in side wall 186a adjacent rearsurface 196 and terminates in an end face 200 which joins a shelf 199which extends into central cavity 182. The end face 200 and/or shelf 199is engaged by the free end 100 of one of the two tabs 98 of snap clip92. A second slot 202 is placed in side wall 188a adjacent rear surface196 as shown in FIG. 7. End face 204 of slot 202 or shelf 203 whichjoins end face 204 and extends into central cavity 182 is engaged by thefree end 100 of the second of the two tabs 98. The engagement of thefree ends 100 of tabs 98 with end face 200 and/or shelf 199 and end face204 and/or shelf 203 retains snap clip 92 in its intended positionagainst the interior surface of end surface 196 and prevents unwantedremoval of the snap clip 92.

A contact support 206, with a contact cavity 208 therein, extendsoutwardly from the exterior of bottom wall 190 and a similar support 210with a contact cavity 212 therein, extends outwardly from top wall 184.Formed in the exterior of bottom wall 190, within contact support 206,is a recess 214 extending from front surface 194 towards rear surface196 to receive tab 152 to guide the contact 120 into its final positionafter being inserted into contact support 206 from front surface 194. Asimilar recess 214 is placed in the exterior of top wall 184, withincontact support 210. A slot, similar to slot 350 in FIG. 15 but notshown in FIGS. 6 to 11, extends upwardly from rear surface 196 towardsfront surface 184 within the recess 214 of contact support 206 butterminates short of front surface 194 to provide a surface, similar tosurface 352, to be engaged by tab 152. Contact 120 is placed in contactsupport 206, from front surface 194, with tab 152 positioned in recess214. The contact 120 is then pushed down towards rear surface 196 untiltab 152 enters slot 350 and tab 152 moves below surface 352 whichprevents removal of the contact 120 from contact support 206 by theengagement of tab 152 with stop surface 352 of slot 350.

A similar slot such as 350 with a stop surface 352 is placed in recess214 of contact support 210. Once seated, the contact 120 insertedthrough front surface 194 into contact cavity 212 and advanceddownwardly towards rear surface 196, any movement of a contact 120towards front surface 194 is also prevented by engagement of tab 152with stop surface 352.

Mounting pads are placed at the four corners of lampholder 90. Pad 240is mounted between bottom wall 190 and a wall of contact support 206 andhas a thickness such that rear surface 196 sits above the panel to whichit is mounted (See FIG. 1). The exposed corner of pad 240 is rounded anda bore 244 (see FIG. 9) extends through the pad 240 parallel with thewalls 186, 188. The bottom surface of pad 240 is flat as shown in FIG.8. In a similar fashion, pad 230 is mounted between bottom wall 190 anda second wall of contact support 206 and has a bore 234 therethrough.Pads 220 and 250 are each mounted between top wall 184 and a separateone of the walls of contact support 210 and have bores 224 and 254,respectively, therethrough. Fasteners (not shown) can be passed throughtwo or more of the bores 224, 234, 244 and 254 to anchor lampholder 90to a panel, such as mounting panel 28 of reflector 22 shown in FIG. 1.

A modification can be made to the mounting pads of lampholder 90 topermit the lampholder 90 to be mounted upon panels of various thickness.As shown in FIGS. 7, 10 and 11 lampholder 90¹ has modified mounting padswhich include a flexible arm whose bottom surface is generally anextension of the bottom surface of the remainder of the mounting pad. Atthe end of the flexible arm, on the underside thereof, is ahemispherically shaped protrusion. The top surface of the arm isgenerally flat and the cross-section of the arm is generallyrectangular, although any of these aspects can be changed to improve orcontrol the flexure of the flexible arms.

Mounting pad 240¹ has a flexible arm 246 and a hemispherically shapedprotrusion 248 extending from the underside of said arm 246. Mountingpad 250¹ has a flexible arm 256 terminating on its underside at its freeend in a hemispherically shaped protrusion 258. Similarly, pad 220¹ hasan arm 226 and protrusion 228 while pad 230¹ has an arm 236 withprotrusion 238. The flexible arms 226, 236, 246 and 256 will flex todifferent degrees depending upon the thickness of the mounting panel.

Flexible latching arms 260 and 270 extend from rear surface 196 andterminate below the mounting pads 220, 230, 240, and 250. The arm 260 ismade more flexible by separating the arm 260 from adjacent mounting pads230 and 240. Arm 270 is also separated from adjacent mounting pads 220and 250.

Arm 270 has a sloped lead portion 272 which when it engages the edge ofan aperture in a panel to which lampholder 90 is to be installed causesthe entire arm 270 to flex inwardly until the horizontal surface 274 isadjacent the back surface of the panel at which time the arm 270 canreturn to its initial position and the panel 28 will be retained betweenhorizontal surface 274 of arm 270 and the bottom surfaces of themounting pads. In a similar fashion the inclined lead portion 262 causesthe arm 260 to flex inwardly until horizontal surface 264 of arm 260 isbelow the rear face of the panel 28, and the panel will be retainedbetween horizontal surface 264 of arm 260 and the bottom surfaces of themounting pads. The flexible arms and their hemispherically shapedprotrusions can take up any free space between the surface of themounting panel and the lower surfaces of the mounting pads due toinstallation of the lampholder 90¹ upon a thinner panel than thelampholder 90¹ is intended to be used with or where different portionsof the panel are of differing thickness. The flexible latching arms 260and 270 would be placed in a mounting aperture with the horizontalsurfaces 264 and 274 on the underside of the panel and the flexible armsand protrusions would act upon the top surface of the panel to cause thehorizontal surfaces 264 and 274 to intimately engage the underside ofthe panel.

Placed in contact cavity 208 between open front surface 194 andsubstantially closed rear surface 196 of housing 180, and generallyparallel with rear surface 196, is a wall 280 in which are formed twoapertures 282 (see FIGS. 9 and 10). The wall 280 is spaced inwardly fromopen front surface 194 sufficiently to permit the entire length ofcontact 120 to be accepted in contact cavity 208 and have ends 146 and148 spaced from front surface 194 so that the contacts 120 whenenergized can not be touched inadvertently. The apertures 282 are sopositioned in wall 280 that the space between the tabs 158, 160 and thebase 128 is immediately accessible to the bare end of a conductorinserted through either of the apertures 282. In a similar fashion, awall 284 is formed in contact cavity 212 and two apertures 286 extendthrough it to permit access to contact 120 placed in contact cavity 212as above described.

Turning now to FIG. 15, there is shown a lampholder 300 for supportingand providing AC power to a quad tube 70 of the type shown in FIG. 5.The housing 302 of lampholder 300 has four mounting pads only three ofwhich are shown in the figure, mounting pad 304 with aperture 306,mounting pad 308 with aperture 310 and mounting pad 312. Screws or boltscan be passed through two or more of these apertures to fasten thelampholder 300 to a mounting panel. Two flexible latching arms extendbelow the bottom surfaces of the mounting pads 304, 308, 312, only arm326 is visible in the figure and are employed as described above withrespect to arms 260, 270.

The rectangular central cavity 328 is the same size as the centralcavity 182 of housing 180 of FIG. 6. A dual contact support 333, havingcontact cavities 340 and 342, is formed on the outer surface of top wall320 and a second dual contact support 336, having contact cavities 344and 346 is formed on the outer surface of bottom wall 322. A slot 350extends on the interior of top wall 320 from the bottom surface 354towards top surface 332 for about one half of the height of top wall 320and aligned with contact cavity 342. The upper end of slot 350 providesa surface 352 to be engaged by the outwardly directed tab 152. A similarslot and surface is provided for each of the contact cavities 340, 344and 346 to retain the contacts 120 in their associated contact cavities.

A recess 330 in one of the side walls between top wall 320 and bottomwall 322 and recess 334 in the opposite side wall made wide enough toaccept the arms 96 of a snap clip 92. Shelves (not shown) similar toshelves 199 and 203 in FIG. 10 are placed across the recesses 330 and334 and spaced from rear surface 354 to be engaged by free ends 100 oftabs 98 to retain the snap clip 92 in its desired position.

The lampholder 300 can be provided with flexible arms extending fromeach of the mounting pads 304, 308, 310, 312, each arm having ahemispherically shaped protrusion on its lower surface adjacent its freeend in a fashion similar to that shown in FIGS. 7, 10 and 11.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out thefundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferredembodiments, it will be understood that various omissions andsubstitutions and changes of the form and details of the devicesillustrated and in their operation may be made by those skilled in theart, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A lampholder for compactfluorescent lamps having a base with at least two locking tabs and atleast two leads comprising:a) a body portion having a base cavity forreceiving the base of a compact fluorescent lamp therein; b) a resilientclip in said base cavity to engage said at least two locking tabs on thebase of a compact fluorescent lamp inserted into said base cavity andremovably lock said lamp to said body portion; c) said body portionfurther having at least two contact cavities; d) said body portion hasan open first end and a substantially closed second end, said basecavity and said at least two contact cavities each extending from saidopen first end towards said substantially closed second end; e) at leasttwo contacts, one in each of said at least two contact cavities, each ofsaid at least two contacts engaging an associated one of said at leasttwo leads whereby AC power can be applied to said compact fluorescentlamp to light it; f) at least two mounting pads coupled to said bodyportion adjacent said substantially closed second end; and g) anaperture through each of said at least two mounting pads in a directionof a longitudinal axis of said body portion, to permit fasteners, onefor each of said at least two mounting pads, to pass through anassociated aperture and into a mounting panel to mount said lampholderupon a front surface of such mounting panel.
 2. A lampholder for compactfluorescent lamps having a base with at least two locking tabs and atleast two leads comprising:a) a body portion having a base cavity forreceiving the base of a compact fluorescent lamp therein; b) a resilientclip in said base cavity to engage said at least two locking tabs on thebase of a compact fluorescent lamp inserted into said base cavity andremovably lock said lamp to said body portion; c) said body portionfurther having at least two contact cavities; d) said body portion hasan open first end and a substantially closed second end, said basecavity and said at least two contact cavities each extending from saidopen first end towards said substantially closed second end; e) at leasttwo contacts, one in each of said at least two contact cavities, each ofsaid at least two contacts engaging an associated one of said at leasttwo leads whereby AC power can be applied to said compact fluorescentlamp to light it; f) said body portion has an external base surface atsaid substantially closed second end; and g) resilient locking tabsextending below said external base surface, said resilient locking tabsadapted to pass through an aperture in a mounting panel, a front surfaceof which said lampholder is to be placed upon, and engage a rear surfaceof such mounting panel adjacent said aperture.
 3. A lampholder asdefined in claim 2 wherein:a) said body portion has a plurality offlexible legs extending therefrom parallel with said external basesurface; and b) a raised protuberance at the free end of each of saidlegs to engage a front surface of a mounting panel whereby a range ofmounting panel thicknesses can be positioned between said raisedprotuberances of said flexible legs and said resilient locking tabs. 4.A lampholder for compact fluorescent lamps having a base with at leasttwo locking tabs and at least two leads comprising:a) a body portionhaving a base cavity for receiving the base of a compact fluorescentlamp therein; b) a resilient clip in said base cavity to engage said atleast two locking tabs on the base of a compact fluorescent lampinserted into said base cavity and removably lock said lamp to said bodyportion; c) said body portion further having at least two contactcavities; d) said body portion has an open first end and a substantiallyclosed second end, said base cavity and said at least two contactcavities each extending from said open first end towards saidsubstantially closed second end; e) at least two contacts, one in eachof said at least two contact cavities, each of said at least twocontacts engaging an associated one of said at least two leads wherebyAC power can be applied to said compact fluorescent lamp to light it; f)said body has an external base surface at said substantially closedsecond end; g) at least two mounting pads coupled to said body portion,each of said at least two mounting pads having a bottom surface alignedwith said external base surface of said body portion; h) an aperturethrough each of said at least two mounting pads in a direction of alongitudinal axis of said body portion to permit fasteners, one for eachof said at least two mounting pads, to pass through an associatedaperture and into a mounting panel to mount said lampholder upon a frontsurface of such mounting panel; and i) resilient locking tabs extendingbelow said external base surface, said locking tabs adapted to passthrough an aperture in a mounting panel to which said lampholder is tobe mounted and engage a rear surface of such mounting panel adjacentsaid aperture whereby said lampholder can be selectively mounted by useof fasteners or said locking tabs.
 5. A lampholder for compactfluorescent lamps having a base with at least two locking tabs and atleast two leads comprising:a) a body portion having a base cavity forreceiving the base of a compact fluorescent lamp therein; b) a resilientclip in said base cavity to engage said at least two locking tabs on thebase of a compact fluorescent lamp inserted into said base cavity andremovably lock said lamp to said body portion; c) said body portionfurther having at least two contact cavities; d) at least two contacts,one in each of said at least two contact cavities, each of said at leasttwo contacts engaging an associated one of said at least two leadswhereby AC power can be applied to said compact fluorescent lamp tolight it; e) each of said at least two contacts has a lead end to engageone of said at least two lamp leads and a conductor end to engage atleast one electrical conductor inserted into said contact.
 6. Alampholder as defined in claim 5, wherein each of at least two contactshas a conductor end to engage two electrical conductors.
 7. A lampholderas defined in claim 5, wherein each of said at least two contacts has aconnector body with said lead end at a first end and said conductor endat a second end; said conductor end of each of said at least twocontacts comprises a cantilevered member bent inwardly toward saidconnector body, a free end of each of said cantilevered members adaptedto engage an inserted conductor and act as a one way clutch to preventremoval of an inserted conductor.
 8. A lampholder as defined in claim 6,wherein said conductor end of each of said at least two contactscomprises two cantilevered members, each bent inwardly toward saidconnector body, a free end of each of said cantilevered members adaptedto engage an inserted conductor inserted therein and act as a one wayclutch to prevent removal of an inserted conductor.
 9. A lampholder forcompact quad-tube fluorescent lamps having a base with at least twolocking tabs and at least four leads comprising:a) a body portion havinga base cavity for receiving the base of a compact quad-tube fluorescentlamp therein; b) a resilient clip in said base cavity to engage at leasttwo of said at least two locking tabs on the base of a compact quad-tubefluorescent lamp inserted into said base cavity and removably lock saidlamp to said body portion; c) said body portion further having at leastfour contact cavities; d) said body portion has an open first end and asubstantially closed second end, said base cavity and said at least fourcontact cavities each extending from said open first end towards saidsubstantially closed second end; e) at least four contacts, one in eachof said at least four contact cavities, each of said at least fourcontacts engaging an associated one of said at least four leads wherebyAC power can be applied to said compact quad-tube fluorescent lamp tolight it; f) at least two mounting pads coupled to said body portionadjacent said substantially closed second end; and g) an aperturethrough each of said at least two mounting pads in a direction of alongitudinal axis of said body portion, to permit fasteners, one foreach of said at least two mounting pads, to pass through an associatedaperture and into a mounting panel to mount said lampholder upon a frontsurface of such mounting panel.
 10. A lampholder for compact quad-tubefluorescent lamps having a base with at least two locking tabs and atleast four leads comprising:a) a body portion having a base cavity forreceiving the base of a compact quad-tube fluorescent lamp therein; b) aresilient clip in said base cavity to engage at least two of said atleast two locking tabs on the base of a compact quad-tube fluorescentlamp inserted into said base cavity and removably lock said lamp to saidbody portion; c) said body portion further having at least four contactcavities; d) said body portion has an open first end and a substantiallyclosed second end, said base cavity and said at least four contactcavities each extending from said open first end towards saidsubstantially closed second end; e) at least four contacts, one in eachof said at least four contact cavities, each of said at least fourcontacts engaging an associated one of said at least four leads wherebyAC power can be applied to said compact quad-tube fluorescent lamp tolight it; f) said body portion has an external base surface at saidsubstantially closed second end; and g) resilient locking tabs extendingbelow said external base surface, said resilient locking tabs adapted topass through an aperture in a mounting panel, a front surface of whichsaid lampholder is to be placed upon, and engage a rear surface of suchmounting panel adjacent said aperture.
 11. A lampholder as defined inclaim 10, wherein:a) said body portion has at least two flexible legsextending therefrom parallel with said external base surface; and b) araised protuberance at the free end of each of said at least twoflexible legs to engage a front surface of a mounting panel upon whichsaid lampholder is to be mounted whereby a range of mounting panelthicknesses can be positioned between said raised protuberances of saidat least two flexible legs and said resilient locking tabs.
 12. Alampholder for compact quad-tube fluorescent lamps having a base with atleast two locking tabs at least four leads comprising:a) a body portionhaving a base cavity for receiving the base of a compact quad-tubefluorescent lamp therein; b) a resilient clip in said base cavity toengage at least two of said at least two locking tabs on the base of acompact quad-tube fluorescent lamp inserted into said base cavity andremovably lock said lamp to said body portion; c) said body portionfurther having at least four contact cavities; d) said body portion hasan open first end and a substantially closed second end, said basecavity and said at least four contact cavities each extending from saidopen first end towards said substantially closed second end; e) at leastfour contacts, one in each of said at least four contact cavities, eachof said at least four contacts engaging an associated one of said atleast four leads whereby AC power can be applied to said compactquad-tube fluorescent lamp to light it; f) said body portion has anexternal base surface at said substantially closed second end; g) atleast two mounting pads coupled to said body portion, each of said atleast two mounting pads having a bottom surface aligned with saidexternal base surface of said body portion; h) an aperture through eachof said at least two mounting pads in a direction of a longitudinal axisof said body portion to permit fasteners, one for each of said at leasttwo mounting pads, to pass through an associated aperture and into amounting panel, to mount said lampholder upon a front surface of suchmounting panel; and i) resilient locking tabs extending below saidexternal base surface, said locking tabs adapted to pass through anaperture in a mounting panel to which said lampholder is to be mountedand engage a rear surface of such mounting panel adjacent said aperturewhereby said lampholder can be selectively mounted by use of fastenersor said locking tabs.
 13. A lampholder for compact quad-tube fluorescentlamps having a base with at least two locking tabs and at least fourleads comprising:a) a body portion having a base cavity for receivingthe base of a compact quad-tube fluorescent lamp therein; b) a resilientclip in said base cavity to engage at least two of said at least twolocking tabs on the base of a compact quad-tube fluorescent lampinserted into said base cavity and removably lock said lamp to said bodyportion; c) said body portion further having at least four contactcavities; d) at least four contacts, one in each of said at least fourcontact cavities, each of said at least four contacts engaging anassociated one of said at least four leads whereby AC power can beapplied to said compact quad-tube fluorescent lamp to light it; e) eachof said at least four contacts has a lead end to engage one of said atleast four lamp leads and a conductor end to engage at least oneelectrical conductor inserted into said contact.
 14. A lampholder asdefined in claim 13, wherein each of at least four contacts has aconductor end to engage two electrical conductors.
 15. A lampholder asdefined in claim 14, wherein said conductor end of each of said at leastfour contacts comprises two cantilevered members, each bent inwardlytoward said connector body, a free end of each of said cantileveredmembers adapted to engage an inserted conductor inserted therein and actas a one way clutch to prevent removal of an inserted conductor.
 16. Alampholder as defined in claim 13, wherein each of said at least fourcontacts has a connector body with said lead end at a first end and saidconductor end at a second end; said conductor end of each of said atleast four contacts comprises a cantilevered member bent inwardlytowards said connector body, a free end of each of said cantileveredmembers adapted to engage an inserted conductor and act as a one wayclutch to prevent removal of an inserted conductor.